


Blooming Hearts

by Gertrude69



Category: VALORANT (Video Game)
Genre: Action & Romance, Action/Humor, Angst, Background Friendships, Background Relationships, F/F, Family, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Minor Relationships, Minor/Background Relationships - Freeform, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Storyline
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:07:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26064718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gertrude69/pseuds/Gertrude69
Summary: The guilty feelings were under the sea of thoughts that usually ran through Jett’s mind. But this time, they resurfaced after a spike mission that they had almost failed at. The problem is, all these guilty feelings are directed at one particular agent.
Relationships: Cypher/Killjoy (VALORANT), Jett & Phoenix (VALORANT), Jett/Sage (VALORANT), Killjoy & Jett (VALORANT), Raze & Phoenix & Jett (VALORANT), Raze/Viper (VALORANT), Sage & Cypher (VALORANT)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 102





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfic will probably have a storyline. It sort of stems from my first fanfic, but this is a bit more in depth. It will have both perspectives of Sage and Jett.

Jett had been tasked with planting the spike, along with Phoenix, Cypher, Viper, and most importantly, Sage. Their mission lead them to the city: Split, a city completely controlled by the ruthless corporation known as Kingdom. They were due to blow up a giant radianite core that powered the surrounding area.

They had managed to clear most of the area, thanks to Jett being a (somewhat) stealthy assassin and Phoenix actually keeping his mouth shut for once. They were now at the corridor between the bomb site and the rafters where there would presumably be more kingdom employees watching the area.

Jett was still full of adrenaline, and wanted to finish the mission as soon as possible. She ran to the corner before being called back by Sage and Cypher.

“Wait, before we rush in, let’s think about how we can handle this.“ Cypher said.

Jett was restless. She was confident that she could kill them all before the spike even detonated. Why did Cypher like to take everything slow? She could never understand that.

“It is likely that as soon as we charge in, we may get-“ Sage had said before being cut off by a scoff from Jett.

“Blah blah blah, who cares? Let’s just kill them all! I got you guys from the front!” Jett said impatiently. 

Jett had almost regret cutting Sage off like that, especially with the torn and worried face that Sage showed afterwards, but Jett dismissed the thought. Sage was strong-willed, she would get over it. 

Yeah, she would. Right?

“Alright! Let’s go then! Bet that I can kill more of them!” Phoenix winked with a smirk.

Any form of guilt within Jett’s heart vanished. Phoenix was her favorite sparring partner, as well as being known for having an easygoing personality.

Maybe that’s why he got along with the others so well, including Sage. Why did that thought set a weird feeling at the core of her stomach?

“Oh you’re on! If I win, you’re washing the dishes tonight!” Jett had retorted back with an equally condescending yet playful smirk of her own.

“We’ve got no time to plan now, they know we’re here already. Might as well wreak havoc now before it’s too late.” Viper interjected airily through her gas mask.

Viper, the resident chemist in the team. If Jett was being honest, she was slightly wary of Viper. Not only because Viper was ridiculously intelligent, but she would likely leave them to die in the mission if she could.

Jett looked back once, and saw the two sentinels hashing out some last minute details. Sage had a worried face the entire time, but seemed to calm down once Cypher put his hand on her shoulder.

“It’s okay. She’ll just heal me up. No biggie, right? I’ve got this!” Jett thought to herself.

——————————————————————————

Cypher put a hand on Sage’s shoulder, reassuring her that everything will be fine.

“We got this Sage. You go out there and protect our fellow teammates. I will stay here to protect us from behind. They might actually get themselves killed if they don’t have someone to babysit them.” Cypher chuckled.

Sage’s brain was like a fried circuit board at this point, with most of her stress coming from two agents in particular, especially Jett. The girl was quite reckless, and often dove in on fights with little regard for her teammates. But most importantly, Sage feared that one day, Jett may venture out too far.

Too far for Sage to help her. Too far for Sage to save her if she dies.

But hearing Cypher’s words had calmed her down a little. After all, Cypher was their best information broker.

“Okay Cypher. I’m counting on you.” Sage said with confidence.

Jett had dashed through the corridor, immediately firing at the first enemy seen, loud echos of gunfire in the distance. Not long after, Phoenix and Viper had begun to push in with their own arsenals. Viper had managed to cover the rafters with poison smokes, while Phoenix guarded the back area, taking out two more Kingdom employees.

Jett had planted the spike, and now they needed to do was to defend it till detonation.

One unfortunate soul had managed to step into Cypher’s tripwire, and the info was relayed to the team.

“That guy is mine!” Jett bellowed as she started to run to the enemy’s revealed location.

“Nuh-uh! You’re not winning the bet! Not if I have anything to say about it!” Phoenix called out, rushing after Jett.

“Wait! You cannot leave the site! We have to defend the spike!” Sage called into her earpiece after blocking off the rafters where vipers poisons were. 

“It’s fine! They’re not going to get an inch on the spike! They haven’t even started augKkKKk-“ Phoenix started before being cut off.

Faint gunshots were heard, and the sound of an Operator was fired. Sage started to panic, and tried to squash down the racing feeling.

Where was Jett? Where did they last go?

“Cypher, Sabine. I’m going to help. Defend the spike.” Sage said to the others before rushing to the last seen positions of the two hotheaded agents.

“I hope they are okay. More so, I hope Jett can hold her own and not peek angles. I did hear a sniper shot after all.”  
——————————————————————————

Jett was ready to peek the angle with her knives. She had been shot in the arm, and Phoenix was dead. 

“Should I go in? There might be more guys there....” she thought to herself.

It would be a big risk, but she was sure she could take them. After all, she was a wind assassin, no one was faster than her.

“Don’t.” Sage’s voice interrupting her thoughts. Jett jumped, and saw Sage right behind her. This time, Sage had worn her stern, wise face, contrast to the worried face before. She was out of breath and her face was slightly red. 

Not going to lie, the worried face was pretty cute, but with this one, it seemed like Sage had ran to get her. 

Did Sage really care about her well-being that much? After all, the spike was going to detonate, no matter the circumstances. She was sure of this.

“Girl, you almost scared me.” Jett quietly laughed. 

“Jett, we need to go. Forget about them. Phoenix is already dead.”

“Aww, but I wanted to kill them.” Jett pouted. Sage however held her stern face.

“Multiple enemies spotted.” Viper called out.

“Enemy spotted.” Cypher also called out.

“Need help.” Viper said, panic started to flow into her voice.

“They’re trying to buy time, they’ve likely pushed in on Cypher and Sabine by now. They’re splitting you away so that they have the advantage.” Sage said quickly.

“Then let’s just go through these guys and flank them, it’s not that hard.” Jett replied back. 

Sage put two fingers up the bridge of her nose, squeezing it to relieve the stress. “Jett listen. We need to....behind you!!” 

Jett took a knife in her palm and stabbed the nearest enemy behind her. 

“See? Easy. They’ve got nothing on us. We got-Aughkkkk.” Jett sputtered out before blood from her forehead started to leak.

“No no no! This wasn’t supposed to happen!” Jett’s thoughts ran through her mind as she felt the life leeching out of her body with each passing second. Jett fell into Sage’s arms.

Ironic isn’t it.

“Jett!” She heard the faint sound of Sage’s voice. Sage started to run, and a crystalline wall appeared with a flick of her arms. 

A thousand different thoughts ran through Jett’s mind. Shame. Regret. Fear. The fear of not exactly death itself, but dying without getting to spend more time with the team, for saying goodbye to everyone.

For not saying sorry to all the times that Sage had healed her after her reckless mistakes, including this one. 

This wasn’t the first time she died. She has been resurrected by Sage multiple times. But this time felt different.

Now Sage was in danger as well. Sage put herself in danger, in firing range to save Jett. Sage might not make it out alive either.

“I’m sorry. For making you stress. It’s something I always...regretted.....” Jett whispered as Sage was running with Jett in her arms.

Bridal style, might she add. Also ironic.

Gunshots had whizzed by Sage’s head. Jett was starting to lose consciousness. That’s all she ever was to the team, to Sage. A burden.

Sage had said something, something about not being able to heal her right away, but it was muffled out.

“I’m sorry. For being...a burden.” Jett finally whispered before losing consciousness.

——————————————————————————

Sage kept running, and running, with a dead Jett in her arms. She managed to hear Jett’s faint words and honestly, she didn’t know that Jett felt that way. 

“No time for that. Focus.” She said to herself.

She ran to Phoenix’s body and prepared to revive him. She could only revive one person at a time, and Phoenix would be the better option. He was stronger, and could carry Jett back to the plane where she could then treat Jett. 

She hummed, and pulled the life up from the abyss, and back into Phoenix’s body. Crystalline formed around his body, before cracking to reveal a relieved Phoenix. 

“Thanks Sage.” Phoenix breathed. He looked around in confusion.

“Wait, we’re still here?” 

Loud bangs came from behind. Phoenix picked up his gun and shot two soldiers in the head.

“No time to explain. Can you help carry Jett?” Sage said in a hurry.

Soon, everything dawned on Phoenix. He agreed, and picked her up. Sage saw the guilt in his face. They ran in silence, until they met up with the other two agents.

“The spike is about to blow up, we need to leave now!” Cypher said calmly, until he saw Jett in Phoenix’s arms. Cypher looked at Sage.

“No questions until we get on the plane.” Sage said briefly before putting up a wall near a doorway. 

“Good. Let’s get out of here. They should be choking their lungs out in there before their final deaths. I made sure of that.” Viper breathed, triumphantly.

They retreated into the plane, and as it took off, Sage looked out the window. The sheer blackness that came out of the spike as it exploded gave Sage a sense of relief, content that they had finished their mission. 

But at the same time, she was worried about Jett. Not only for Jett’s health physically, but mentally as well. Sage grabbed the medkit on the plane, and strode to Phoenix, who was holding Jett’s head up in an effort to keep the blood in her skull.

Sage prepared to revive her. Sage wrapped bandages around Jett to stop the bleeding. She could not revive Jett back to pristine condition, but she had enough energy to revive the life back into her body. 

As she pulled the life force up, a sea of thoughts had flown into her mind. Mostly about Jett’s actions and words.

Jett wasn’t a burden. Not in Sage’s eyes. Jett was an essential member of their team who could get frags and clear corners easily. Sure, she was impulsive, and often liked to push areas without first thinking of consequences. But Jett’s skills and confidence made up for it.

At times, Sage found it quite endearing, whenever she playfully fought with Phoenix over something as simple as washing dishes. 

And honestly, Sage was slightly jealous at how Phoenix can be easygoing, able to connect with everyone. How Jett can be brash at times, but still manage to focus on the task, even if she uses a different mindset.

She wished that she could bond more with the girl, but Jett never really wanted to make small talk to her. Even when Sage reminded the team of enemies at the corridor near the bomb site, Jett had cut her off in annoyance. 

Like a student would when they feel they’ve already mastered a technique that their mentor had repeatedly taught them.

It seemed that she would always view Sage as someone to be their mentor instead of a friend who just wants to help. But that’s okay. 

A mentor may be necessary for their purpose in the Valorant protocol.

Sage dipped her arms inward, and the crystalline that had formed around Jett cracked open, revealing a mostly healthy but still unconscious Jett. There was still a tear in her shoulder, and the wound in her head was still visible, but they were not fatal anymore. 

Sage felt a wave of exhaustion consume her, and Cypher intervened.

“You can rest Sage. You did a lot today. Sabine and I will tend to Jett’s wounds.

Sage was closest to Cypher, as they were both sentinels and required each other’s presence. They were on the level of close friends, after saving each other countless times from flankers and backstabbers. 

Sage nodded in thanks, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Viper taking stuff out of the medpack. Sage closed her eyes, and fell into her own thoughts and slumber. 

It was a wistful thought, wanting to get close to Jett. Jett had cat like tendencies, requiring trust overtime. Sage was a patient woman. She could wait on the day that they could be friends.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jett was given a harsh but distorted reality check, but soon, she woke up in the medbay. And Sage had plenty to say to the injured wind assassin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter. Whaaaaat? I’m updating story :0

_Jett opened her eyes, and scanned her_ _surroundings. She was in an alley, with a dim yellow light illuminating the door and some boxes in front of her._

_Confused, she got up, and noticed that her wounds were still there. But they weren’t hurting anymore._

_She heard footsteps approaching, and saw silhouettes walking by her. They paid no heed to Jett, and walked up to the door._

_When the light shone on one of them, Jett saw that it was Cypher, unlocking the door for the others._

_“H-hey! Wait for me!” Jett hoarsely called out, trying to pick herself up._

_But she couldn’t. She couldn’t move. Her body would not let her. Shortly after, ropes were tied around her arms. Jett squirmed and thrashed, desperately wanting to leave. The person that had tied her up had kept a firm grip._

_Jett tried to channel her tattoos, to escape. But the wind paid no heed. Her knives were missing as well. Why? What was going on?_

_“Cypher? What are you doing? Help me, please!” Jett tried to call out._

_“Sorry Jett, but you will no longer be useful to us. We found a radiant who is in every way better than you. They are as fast, agile and swift as you, but even more so, they listen.” Cypher replied condescendingly._

_Jett couldn’t believe what she had heard. They wouldn’t replace her. They can’t! What about the friendships she had with Phoenix and Raze? What about the fun times where she pranked Brimstone?_

_What about the times where she had conversed with Sage, and seeing her warm smile?_

_“Please don’t do this.” Jett begged._

_“Sorry Jett, but there was a census, and all of us are in agreement.”_

_Jett saw the faces of the other silhouettes. It was the entire Valorant protocol team; Reyna, and Viper looked at Jett with disapproving glares and scorn, Sova, Raze and Killjoy who looked at her with sad contempt. Breach didn’t even look at her at all._

_“Sorry bro, but our new recruit is a better sparring partner than you will ever be.” Phoenix lit up the alleyway with a fireball of his own. He was frowning, and Phoenix never frowned._

_Painful tears stung Jett. She dipped her head in dismay. Why? Why was this happening? What did she do to deserve this?_

_Was it all those times she mocked the other members? All those pranks she pulled? Jett couldn’t remember._

_A hand reached out and grabbed Jett by the chin. She looked up, and saw Sage’s warm brown eyes._

_“Sage please, I-I don’t want to leave the protocol. I’m sorry for my actions, I’ll try to be better. I-“_

_“Hush. I’m sorry it has to be this way, but there is nothing more that I can do. I’m sorry Jett.” Sage whispered sadly._

_She got up, and walked inside the door, followed suite by all the other agents. Jett watched as Sage’s brown hair flowed in the wind, her head was down, but she didn’t look back._

_Not once._

_Brimstone came around and said:_

_“You’re fired from the protocol. Get out of our sight.”_

_Everything collapsed around her, brick by brick, Jett’s aching heart hurt more than it did before. She fell into the darkness, before hearing a voice:_

** _“Wake up.”_ **

_What?_

** _“Wake up.”_ **

_Her thoughts were scrambled, but soon she saw a hooded figure, who had three blue cuts in the pure blackness made from the hood. He stretched his claws._

_**“Wake up.”** He said in a raspy voice before charging at Jett. Jett screamed as she saw the claws close in._

_Then all was bright._

Jett woke up frozen in fear. Cold sweat trailed along her body and down her back.

She looked around. She was in the medbay. Phoenix was beside her on a chair, Sage was talking to Brimstone outside the room.

Jett had some IV tubes stuck into her hand. Her shoulder and forehead were bandaged up. She turned her head to Phoenix, who smiled at her with a shit-eating grin.

A shit-eating grin that she would have much preferred over the terrifying frown the Phoenix had worn in her dream.

“Glad to see you’re back to reality, wind girl. Sorry to say this but, you lost the bet.” Phoenix said with a hint of triumph.

“Har har. Says the one who got shot point blank in the head, pretty boy.” Jett retorted back.

“Hey! At least I didn’t die in the arms of our healer, who probably had to run quite a long distance to save you.” Phoenix protested.

Heat rushed to her cheeks, and she turned her head away. Still remembering most of her nightmare, she remembered the sad tone that Sage had regarded her in, and how Sage didn’t even look back.

Did she really think of her like that? Would she throw her under the bus like that?

No. Can’t be true. If that was the case, Sage would’ve left Jett’s body on the ground and fled on her own. She certainly wouldn’t have risked her own life trying to save the both of them.

Yeah. She was overthinking it.

“Hey. You alright? You’re spacing out.” Phoenix’s voice interrupting her thoughts.

“Oh yeah. I’m just hoping that out of the kindness of your heart, you’ll do the dishes tonight. After all, I am injured.” 

“In your dreams. Sage said you’re likely going to be discharged soon, she just needs to do one last checkup.”

“Ughhhhh, not looking forward to the hour long lecture she’s gonna give us.”

“Hah, you and me both.”

Jett was glad that she had Phoenix as a friend. He was honest, kind, humorous. And a great rival to diss.

Phoenix had entertained her for a while while they were in the same room in the medbay together, Cypher visited her to make sure she was okay. Sabine did not care. She just came with Cypher because he had asked her to.

And Sage had plenty to say to the two agents. 

“What were you two thinking? Running off like that over a stupid bet? If it wasn’t for Sabine having loads of poison that could knock out an army, as well as Cyphers tools and intellect. we would’ve failed the mission.” She scolded. 

“Sorry doc. We kinda got carried away. I didn’t realize Kingdom had well trained snipers on their side.” Phoenix said sheepishly.

“Yeah, sorry Sage. For putting you in danger.” Jett blurted out. 

Sage turned to Jett. There was no malice in her eyes, only worry for her wellbeing. 

Deep down, Jett knew that all the harsh and scolding words was for Jett’s sake. She knew that they were to protect her.

Jett couldn’t forget the scene from the nightmare, the one where both Phoenix and Sage had given her disapproving looks. She dipped her head down to look at her hands, a somber look etched on her face.

Sage noticed the lack of excitement on Jett’s face. She often was excited to be discharged from the medbay, often excited to go training, even when she wasn’t back to full health.

Excited to be away from Sage’s presence.

Sage shook that thought away from her mind. She looked at the two agents, who were very close. She smiled inwardly at the friendship they had.

“I spoke with Brimstone. Jett, you do not have to attend training today. I need to check up on your wounds to see if they are fully healed.” 

“Well, I guess I’ll take my leave then. See you around.” Phoenix got up from his seat and left the room. He flashed one last smirk and waved goodbye as the door slid open and closed behind him.

“Alright then, Jett. We need to chat about how you decided to handle that last mission.” Sage said with a serious tone.

Jett flinched at the words, and Sage noticed that she was slightly shaking. Sage rested her hands on Jett’s hand.

“I’m sorry. For rushing in when you told me not to. I just put more trouble on your shoulders.” Jett mumbled without looking up.

Sage had the uncanny ability to read people, having the perks of a healer. She looked at Jett’s blue eyes, which were downcast.

“Jett, look at me.”

Jett looked up, her blue eyes meeting Sage’s brown eyes. Jett was slightly blushing at how her hands were cupped in Sage’s hands.

Sage’s hands were soft and cold, the radianite flowing through her veins. She looked away immediately.

“Jett, I’m not angry at you because I think you’re a burden. I’m angry at you because you venture off to places that I cannot follow.”

Jett turned her head around, and saw Sage’s serious face, but etched with a smile.

“You are a duelist. You are in charge of clearing dangerous areas. I am a sentinel. I make sure no harm comes to you from behind. I make sure that you can come to me for support when you need it.”

Jett didn’t know what to say. All this time, she thought Sage was so strict and angry at her because she thought Jett was a child that needed to be disciplined.

“I don’t just want us to have a mentor/ student relationship. I want us to have a friend/friend relationship.” Sage said with honesty.

“I was mad back then, because I thought I couldn’t save you. I thought that you didn’t want to come back to be saved.” 

This time, Sage looked down, and Jett lifted her hands to touch Sage’s cheek.

Her cheek was mostly cold, but had a tinge of heat to them.

“Sage. That isn’t true. I mostly run off because I...”

Jett lifted her hand as she stopped mid-sentence. She washesitant to proceed.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me. I don’t want to pry.” Sage said in a soft tone, a tone that Jett didn’t know Sage was capable of.

“I just want you to remember that I am always by your side, to aid you when you are in need. Don’t ever forget it, okay?” 

“Okay. I won’t.” Jett said with a grin.

“Now let’s proceed with the checkup, shall we?” Sage said as she took out a clipboard.

“Yeah, let’s do that. I need to get back at Phoenix. Perhaps I could get back at him with a bucket of cold water to his flaming face.” Jett said with a joking tone.

And for the first time in a while, she heard Sage giggle. Her giggle was elegant, how could a giggle be elegant?

Jett smiled at the thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. As always, constructive criticism is appreciated <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jett finishes her checkup, and runs an errand for Sage. While doing that, she talks with two more agents in the Protocol.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m going to add a lot of interactions between different agents, but ultimately the end ship is Jett/Sage. There may be more minor ships in the background in the future ;)

“Alright! That’s it for the check-up! You are free to go.” Sage checked the last box before filing the document away.

“Nice!” Jett said before getting up and stretching. Something was still on her mind though.

The cool feeling of her hands on Sage’s cheek. But also, how Sage didn’t turn away when she touched her cheek.

And the slight tinge of heat on the tip of her fingertips.

That thought alone made her blush, before jumping at her name being called.

“Jett. I was wondering if you could do me a favor.” Sage had put her hand on Jett’s shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah! Sure! What is it?” Jett blabbered, who was caught off guard by the sudden contact on her shoulder, heat blushing all over her face.

Sage looked at her bemusedly, while holding an orange file.

“Could you give this to Brimstone on your way over to the training range?” Sage asked, with a serene smile pulling at the edge of her lips.

“It would mean a lot to me if you did.”

“Yes! I-I uh...yeah of course!” Jett snatched the file before walking to the door in quick strides.

Sage waved goodbye before the doors closed behind Jett.

Sage turned around, and walked over to her desk. She turned on a desk lamp and took out a binder. She added another sheet of paper and started to sketch out a diagram of the base they were currently residing in.

More specifically, she was writing down the altitude and the air pressure of the island that they were on, after the disaster in Venice.

Sage thought about Jett, how she had always claimed that Venice wasn’t her fault. She thought of how free the assassin could be, how her white strands of hair flowed in the wind.

How free she was of the burden that Sage had to carry.

Sage was forced to be grounded, to look out for her team, to be behind their backs.

She wondered what it was like to be able to fly, and have the cold breeze blow through her hair.

Jett really did look quite good in a part of her mind that was imagining the thought.

Once Sage was done sketching out the diagram, she pinned it to the board that was hidden behind some curtains. 

Sage wondered when she would disclose this info to the others. The research she had done on her own as a healer.

Not yet. Maybe another time.

Sage turned off the lights. And left the medbay. The curtains fluttered behind her, 

threatening to reveal its secrets.

—————————————————————

Jett walked down the hallway in quick, powerful strides. Her thoughts were clouded with embarrassment. She kept walking, not really paying attention to her surroundings, before bumping into another person.

“Oof!” 

Jett snapped out of her thoughts, and reached her hand out. 

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bump into you like that.”

“It’s cool. We all make our mistakes.”

The person grabbed her beanie hat, and readjusted her glasses. Jett scanned the agent, and confirmed her to be the new agent that had recently joined them.

Killjoy, the German engineer. She and Cypher worked surprisingly well together, even if their personalities were quite the opposite from each other. 

Killjoy was as cool as a cucumber, that very rarely got angry. Cypher was secretive, always having his guard up. But they were both tech-savvy, so perhaps that was the reason.

The other possibility was that they both mutually agreed that Raze was a nuisance.

Raze has managed to bomb both their labs in explosive paint shells. Jett could often hear Cypher scolding Raze in an exasperated tone: “Izzy, I don’t need exploding cameras again. The cleanup was so messy.” 

Killjoy used to work for kingdom as their tech support. But Brimstone managed to recruit her after some heated arguments. She had only been with them for about a month, and she was already pretty tired of Raze’s shenanigans.

“Raze, freundin, if I even see a gyro out of place, I’m locking you out of my lab.” Raze had expressed her displeasure, but merely replied back with: “Okay minha amiga, I won’t touch a single thing in your lab.” She had said with a wink before running off.

Jett couldn’t help but laugh at the relationships that killjoy had. Perhaps she could be the sane person that Killjoy could turn to.

“How are you adjusting to the Valorant Protocol so far?”

“I must admit, while this team is rather....eccentric, it isn’t a bad experience. Even if we’re risking our lives fighting for the greater good. It’s better than working for Kingdom.” Killjoy replied with honesty.

“I’m glad to hear it. I know that you must be quite fed up with ah, some of us.” Jett said, bemusedly.

“Oh hooo! Nien nien nien! It’s just Raze and her eccentric attitude. She keeps inserting paint into my lovely gadgets. The cleanup is so tedious. Now I understand some of Cypher’s pain whenever he complains about Raze!” Killjoy said, exasperatedly.

“Haha! She is like that. A true party ambassador!” Jett laughed, remembering all the pranks she and Raze had done together to annoy the team.

“By the way, what’s in your hand?”

“Oh this? Just some files that I need to give to Brimstone.”

“Ooh. Are they from Sage? I know that she has done a lot of her own research on how the radianite affects us.” Killjoy asked with great interest.

“Yeah. They are.” Jett looked down to the orange file in her hands. 

“Brimstone is currently drilling the others in the range. You can find him there.” Killjoy winked.

Killjoy was quite observant, and Jett suspected that in the short time that Killjoy was around, she already knew about Jett’s small crush.

“You’re lucky to have someone bail you out of Brimstone’s drilling. It can get quite boring at times. Worse part is, the man doesn’t even know how to text on a phone.” 

“Hah. Yeah...he really is a boomer. Uses calculated orbital air strikes, but can’t use a phone.” Jett laughed.

“I must get going now, need to try out more gadgets in my lab. I’ll see you around.” Killjoy turned to leave, but before she left, she turned around and gave a piece of advice.

“Oh, and I gotta say this. Shoot your shot. She’s a beauty that may not be available to you for long.” She teased.

Jett looked at Killjoy as the engineer left the hallway, dumbfounded. She really was observant.

Too observant.

Jett continued to stumble through the base, until she walked into the range. She saw Sova and Cypher attaching a camera to Sova’s drone. On the far side, she saw Viper shooting out canisters of poison at the bots. Jett heard Raze’s little boom bot roll up to her, launching confetti all over Jett.

“Hey Jett! You like my new feature on my lil buddy here?” Raze scooped up the little robot, stars shining in her eyes.

“Raze! I would really appreciate it if you could keep your stupid bot away from my experiments! I don’t need motor oil in my latest batch of poisons.” Viper spat out from across the range, venom laced in her voice. 

“Sheesh, sorry to bring the fun to you. Loosen up some time, sugar queen.” Raze rolled her eyes. 

Jett couldn’t help but remember her nightmare from before. She compared both faces of the same person in her mind. 

Raze had no malice in her expression, as she currently looked like she was ready to party.

Then again, she always looked like she was ready to party. Very energetic and was always ready to finish missions with a bang. And Jett really liked that about her.

“Where’d you get this much confetti?” Jett brushed off some strings of her shoulders.

“Oh you know, raided a convenience for good measure. We’re already confirmed criminals in the eyes of Kingdom anyway, might as well have some fun with it, heh heh heh.” Raze laughed with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Jett noticed Raze’s gaze had landed on a certain chemist across the range.

“Well, you do you. I’m looking for Brimstone. Do you know where he is?” Jett looked around the room, seeing that Mister Brimothy was nowhere in sight.

“He’s making Phoenix clean the guns in the storage room as punishment for the last mission. Hah! Poor guy, wouldn’t want to be him right now!” Raze laughed as she screwed the bolts into the little orange robot in her arms. 

Jett winced, as that could’ve also been her punishment had it not for Sage keeping her in the medbay.

“Alright, thanks. Have fun annoying Sabine. Do try to live. The snake will really lash out if you provoke her too much.” Jett grinned as she walked towards the storage room. 

Jett wouldn’t give up her friendships for the world. Kingdom often liked to use close relationships as leverage for blackmail, such as family and friends. So it was ironic that the only people that she considered her family were the people on the Protocol.

A warming thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes. Family vibes. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! As always, criticism is appreciated <3
> 
> Apologies if there are grammatical errors btw.


	4. Chapter 4

Sage walked along the halls of the building, and she couldn’t notice at how messy the building still is. All the debris had mostly been cleaned up pretty well, considering that fact that their base was in a floating island that was caused by the First Light. But there were still areas that were messy, with floating debris that could still be taken care of.

Sage sighed, thinking about the life that she was now a part of. A life of basically becoming a criminal. A life that she never thought she would adapt to. Her thoughts veered towards her team, her new family.

She couldn’t help but think of Jett, how her white hair flowed in the air, and how happy and free she was whenever in combat. Sage remembered when they were just in the medbay, the feeling of Jett’s warm hands on her cheek. Sage felt her heart bump, and covered those feelings. She felt a constant beat in her chest that was louder than before. _What’s happening to her?_

Sage walked around a corner, until she saw Reyna cleaning her gun. Reyna was their resident vampire, who lived off eating the souls left from the death of others. Sage wasn’t too fond of her, killing people left and right for fun, and essentially living off their essence. Being a healer and pacifist, she only killed people if she needed to, and often stayed behind to deter enemies. She was the complete opposite of Reyna, and she liked to stay far away from Reyna as possible.

After all, there’s no telling how much Reyna was really capable of. And who she would hurt next.

Sage was about to turn away, when she heard the Mexican’s voice taunt her. “Going somewhere, Sage?”

Sage flinched, but kept her guard up. She didn’t want to show fear to Reyna of all people. Reyna didn’t even turn around, but her presence was very overwhelming, like an empress.

“Was just on my way to the range, nothing more.” Sage replied back. Sage didn’t really want to make small talk to the vampire, as her morals were ah, much different from her own to say the least.

Reyna turned around, with a smirk on her face. She walked up to Sage, with hungry glints in her eyes. Sage willed all of her fear away, and put on a stone mask in the face of the vampire.

“You don’t have to pretend that you are afraid, my little monk. It just shows disrespect to my presence.” Reyna cooed, now mere inches away from the other’s face.

“After all, we make the perfect team. You give life, and I take it. Perfect dynamic. We should work together more often.” Reyna licked her lips, showing her canine teeth. Sage didn’t know how to feel about that statement, but the benefits were definitely one-sided.

“I don’t want to be afraid of my own teammates, Reyna. No matter how you are, we are still fighting for the same cause.” Sage replied back. Reyna let out a cold-hearted laugh, and gripped Sage’s chin and whispered into her ear.

“That may be so, but I will give you a piece of advice, because I’m so generous. Don’t get in my way. I choose as I please, and I will kill as I please. Your heals will not be necessary for me, I get plenty of meals from the people that I kill. I won’t hesitate to take the life from you should you accidentally get in the range of my gun.” Reyna whispered delightedly. Sage shivered at Reyna’s warm breath, but immediately stepped back, taking strides and leaving Reyna in the room.

“I appreciate the information. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got places to be.” Sage turned around, but not before having strong arms wrapping themselves around her waist. Sage jumped at the sudden contact.

“Perhaps there will be a day where I can taste your soul, Sage. I’m sure it will have an exotic taste to it.” The vampire whispered menacingly from behind. How did she get so close? Sage merely shook her head and struggled out of her grip.

“Let me go, I do not have time for this.” Sage steeled her voice, trying her best not to tremble. Reyna looked at her amusedly before letting go.

Why was she so damn creepy? Sage finally let the shivers of disgust run down her spine before walking to the storage room.

“Poor thing.” She heard Reyna muse as she watched Sage stumble away, using powerful strides to put as much distance between her and Reyna as possible. She could feel Reyna’s glare as it pierced her back.

Sage made her way down to storage, where she saw Brimstone with the two agents receiving their punishments. He had the orange file in his hand, and was ordering the two hotheads of their team to clean and polish the guns. Phoenix and Jett sighed as they continued to polish the weapons that the team used on a daily basis.

“They’d better be spotless, after all the trouble that you little maggots caused.” Brimstone said, crossing his arms.

“Yeah yeah. Sorry dad. We won’t do it again.” Jett retorted sarcastically, while rolling her eyes.

Sage couldn’t help but look at Jett’s face when she pouted. Round and adorable. She reminded Sage of a puppy that was begging for attention. Sage looked around, grabbing ahold of a pistol before regarding the other three agents in the room.

“Brimstone, have the two troublemakers learned their lesson yet?” Sage asked with a small smile, a smile directed to the both of them. She saw Jett’s surprised face, and Phoenix’s sheepish expression.

“They’ll learn respect soon enough. The smell of iron always gets the rookies after all.” Brimstone stated, while eyeing the two agents. Jett mouthed something along the lines of “in your dreams, old man,” but Sage couldn’t hear her words. Still, she found it rather endearing and quite adorable as the girl continued to scrub the gun with renewed vigor.

“Sage, if you don’t mind, could you look after these two in my stand. I’ve got to take a look at these files.” Brimstone asked, while eyeing the two agents for any form of slacking off. Sage noticed that it was the same file that she had sent Jett to give to him.

“Of course. I don’t mind.” Sage replied, sitting down with the other two agents, while they were muttering jokes amongst themselves. The atmosphere got awkward very quickly, and there was a moment of silence. Sage noticed Phoenix nudging Jett to say something, but she shook her head and continued to tighten her jaw.

“You know, these guns look pretty generic compared to Raze’s rocket launcher.” Sage started, wanting to break the ice. Phoenix’s ears perked up, intrigued on the topic, while Jett just looked down and continued to clean the gun.

“Perhaps we could customize our own set of guns for fun. Makes battle a lot more interesting.” Sage inspected the classic in her hand, and attached a panda keychain that she had in her pocket onto the gun’s side. “Oh! Oh! I like what you’re thinking! I bet I could paint some mean flames on my frenzy!” Phoenix reached for the frenzy across the table, excitedly. Jett looked up, and saw Sage paint an elegant jade texture onto the classic that she had in her hand before.

“There’s more paint on that shelf over there, if you want to join us.” Sage beckoned persuasively with her words. Jett looked at Phoenix’s frenzy, with the small flames that he was firing up in his hands as reference. Jett couldn’t help but grin, and grabbed some paint to decorate a gun of her own.

Several minutes later, Raze came to check up on them. “Dinner will be ready soon! I just came to remind you guys and..” Raze’s gaze landed upon the piles of guns that had been painted on. Phoenix was drying the paint off with a small compressed flame, while Sage and Jett were debating which keychain buddy to put on the shorty.

“Knife!”

“Orb!”

“Knife!”

“Orb!”

“Whoaaaaaaaaahhh! These designs are so cool!” Raze exclaimed, picking up a gun designed by Jett and inspecting it. It had a simple torpedo in it, with cool streaks of blue. Sage and Jett turned around, seeing Raze feeling the gun. “I wanna try too!” Raze reached for the paintbrush across the table, knocking over a stack of paint that was on the ground. The stack tumbled towards Sage.

“Watch out!” Jett dashed towards the healer, promptly knocking her down, with Jett landing on top, and Sage laying flat on the floor. The stack of paint had littered the ground, but that was quickly disregarded. Jett looked down at Sage’s dazed face, before trying to comprehend what had just happened. A few moments had passed.

A _ll she wanted to do was stroke her porcelain face. Would it be wrong to do so?_

“Ah...Jett? We should probably get up now.” Sage’s quiet voice broke her out of her thoughts. Jett quickly got up, and her whole face was heating up. Sage got up shortly after, and inspected Jett’s face. “Are you okay? You didn’t get hurt anywhere, did you?” Her face was mere inches away from Jett’s.

She was getting really close. Too close. That was all Jett could think about. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Raze snickering along with Phoenix, whom she forgot was also in the room. Waves of humiliation and embarrassment were flowing through her body, and she backed a few steps. “I’m fine! Fine! Yeah! Let’s just clean this mess and go eat!” Jett hollered, a few decibels louder than her usual voice. Sage grabbed her by the wrist and pressed her cool hand on her forehead. “Are you sure? Your face is flushed. Do you have a fever?”

Jett wasn’t sure how much she could take before she fainted out of her own bubbling feelings right then and there. She flicked her wrist and hastily responded: “Yep! All good! Let’s get going!” She put the brushes back quickly, as well as cleaning up the paint, before rushing off to the mess hall.

Sage stood there, dumbfounded. She looked beside her and saw Raze and Phoenix giggling, both almost on the verge of hyperventilating. Phoenix was holding himself up by desperately leaning on the shelf, while Raze was just rolling around on her stomach. Sage felt warmth run through her cheeks after realizing the context of the situation, and pulled Raze off the ground. “Guys, just please shut up. Forget you saw anything..” She muttered while hiding her face behind her hands.

“I never took you to be the one to make such subtle yet effective moves, girl!” Phoenix patted her on the back, while they all started making their way down the hallway. Raze was still emitting dying donkey sounds, and Sage simply closed her eyes while walking. She couldn’t help but think about Jett’s round face heating up, and the situation after the paint cans being knocked down by Raze.

Sage remembered the feeling of being pinned down by Jett. Sage shook her head and buried those thoughts. Am I being bewitched? What’s happening to me? 

What was happening to her sanity?


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They are tasked with another mission. Now we look at some fluff between the two gays

Jett laid on her bed, exhausted. She still felt the heat of what happened in the storage room. Dinner was surprisingly quiet, but Jett saw glances that darted through the air. Thankfully, no one said anything. Jett was able to retreat to her quarters after that, and she laid on her bed. 

She was unsure of what she was feeling, but she knew it wouldn’t leave her alone. It was time to admit it, she liked Sage. She enjoyed her company, her kindness, her willingness to help people. She even liked her sharp tongue, which was saying something, considering how often Sage roasted others. Jett really liked having her around, and would do anything to spend more time with her. But did she feel the same? Would she accept her feelings? Jett was scared to find out, and would rather stay as friends then to have her heart broken. ————————————————————————  
They were at roll-call, and Sage had notably looked more tired. Her eye bags were sinking into her eyes, and her face was pale and sickly. Jett wondered why, but her thoughts were interrupted by Brimstone’s booming voice. 

“Jett! Are you here? She better not have slacked off again.” “Present.” Jett mumbled, while she heard the others chuckle. They finished the roll-call and proceeded with the mission. “For this mission, you are to destroy a settlement in Bind. Kingdom has a shipment of cargo that they are storing there for the time being. And we are to destroy it, using the radianite spike.” Brimstone briefed. 

“So who should go on the mission?” Killjoy asked, looking around at the others. “We know that around 200 mercenaries will be placed at the area, therefore we’ll need a team that can dispel all of those people long enough for the spike to detonate.” 

“I suggest that I go. I can take them out with my toxins.” Viper interjected airily. 

“I can take my alarmbots for a spin.” Killjoy added.

“I’ll keep watch of the surrounding area.” Cypher added hastily. Jett felt a pang if sympathy for him, seeing as he wanted to visit his hometown again, even if Kingdom was sucking it dry.

“I’ll go for medical assistance.” Sage volunteered. Jett turned her head, seeing Sage’s stoic face. She and Cypher had a connection, and they always stuck by each other’s sides. How lucky for him.

“We still need a duelist. Someone that will be able to take out the mercenaries should they come by.”

“I suggest Jett, captain!” Raze interrupted. Jett turned her head in shock. Brimstone looked at Raze, surprised at her words. Usually Raze was the one begging to be put on missions.

Phoenix put his hand up and added: “if I may, I say that Jett is a very good duelist. She’s quick, able to scout corners, and take out many people with a flick of her wrist.” Jett was dumbfounded, Phoenix too? What was this sudden spotlight shining on her?

Brimstone narrowed his eyes, obviously considering her previous mission and the near failure that Jett had brought upon them. He turned to Reyna: “What do you think?” Reyna looked bored, examining her nails, and merely responded with: “I couldn’t care less. I think the girl has learnt her lesson, I’ll let her have this one.”

Jett was stunned, and Brimstone sighed. “Alright then, this mission will be executed by: Jett, Cypher, Killjoy, Sage, and Viper. Any objections?” No one objected.

“Then let’s go! I got my bots ready!” Killjoy squeaked with excitement. Jett had noticed Sage walking up to her, and slowed her heartbeat down to keep it from pumping. “Want to take our cool designed guns with us?” Sage asked with a soft smile. Jett grinned and nodded.

They both loaded the plane with boxes and sat on the plane. As they were flying, Jett noticed Sage looking out the window wistfully. Jett sat next to her, and saw her hand resting on the armrest.

 _You can do this, just breathe._ Jett thought, inhaling a deep breath before opening her mouth. “Hey, what are ya thinking about?” Sage turned around to see a Jett awkwardly smiling. It was kind of cute. Sage chuckled, and leaned back on their chair. “Nothing much, only thinking about all the things that could go wrong during the mission.” Her eyes were still dull, her eye bags remained. Her skin was so pale, she looked like a vampire. Jett was concerned, not just as a friend, but something more. “Sage! Why do you have eye bags? Did you pull an all-nighter?” She asked, worriedly.

Sage gave a sad smile, and turned her head away for a brief moment. “I keep having these nightmares, they constantly haunt me every night. They’re wearing me down to the brink of exhaustion, and I’m not sure how to fix it.” Jett squeezed her hand onto Sage’s, her cool hands contrasting the heat from Jett’s hot (but kinda sweaty) ones. Jett had forgotten that Sage was human too, and that she had a vulnerable side just like everyone else. “What are they about?” She asked softly, wanting to comfort the healer. 

”Not being able to save my team, not being able to save you.” Sage said, almost sheepishly. Jett was astonished by this response, and didn’t know how to respond. ”I always fear that I cannot keep up, that you guys wander too far for me to reach you. The nightmares show me the worst that could come, which is where I cannot even access your physical bodies to pull your spirits back to reality. That is my greatest fear.” Sage’s eyes were downcast. 

Jett felt like Sage really needed a hug, and so she wrapped her arms around her. It felt pleasant. The embrace of the two women made Sage relax, the tense muscles relieving themselves in the transferred heat. Sage wanted the feeling to stay. ”Thank you. I appreciate it.” Sage said, warmly. Jett blushed, and mumbled a “no problem.”

”If you feel that you cannot keep up, then I’ll slow down, just for you.” Jett winked. Sage giggled. “I would like that.” 

While they were hugging, Jett couldn’t help but look at the spheres that were strapped onto Sage’s belt, the same orbs that provided healing, slow fields and ice walls. “How do you control radianite?” She blurted out randomly. Sage looked at Jett affectionately, and merely replied back: “I’ll tell you if you tell me how you control the wind.” Who knew that Sage could be playful at times? Jett giggled at the thought, as she sat closer to Sage, trying to keep her body heat from skyrocketing to an all time high. 

She also could’ve sworn she heard whispering from a nosy engineer. 

_**1 hour later**_.

Sage couldn’t sleep on planes. It was always cramped and there was no reliable way to lay the head properly for long periods of time. She looked over at Jett, who was in a dream of her own. 

_Would it be wrong to lay on her shoulder for a few minutes?_

Sage examined Jett’s face to make sure she was fully unconscious, before leaning her head towards her shoulder. Her head made contact. _Oh god her shoulder was soft, very soft._ She tried not to think too much about it, but failed to conceal her blushing face. Sage closed her eyes and let exhaustion consume her. 

Jett woke up from her bleary eyed nap to feel some kind of pressure on her right shoulder. She turned, and saw Sage’s head resting against her shoulder. She felt the gay panic course through her, and she practically felt her head glowing.

_Don’t freak out, don’t freak out, don’t freak out. It’s not like the person you’re crushing on is laying on your shoulder this very moment!_ Jett’s brain cells were all going crazy. Jett sat still the entire time, not wanting this moment to end. To her disappointment, she felt the healer shuffle and pick herself up. 

Sage looked at her tiredly, while grinning and rubbing her eyes. “Morning, Jett.” Sage yawned. Jett’s brain was a fried circuit at this point, and her etiquette on how to speak was thrown out the window. “M-morning S-Sage.” Jett mumbled, looking away, only to have her face twisted back to face Sage’s eyes.

Sage was smiling, and her cold but soft hands rested on Jett’s warm, gloved ones. “Let’s give it our all through this mission. Redeem yourself from last time.” Sage smiled amusedly. Jett wanted to rewind time and change all the events during that mission because it had damaged most of her ego and confidence entirely. But also, she had put Sage in danger. 

“I’m sorry for not listening to you last time. I almost got you killed and-“ Jett felt her lips being covered by Sage’s hand. “Don’t worry about last time. Worry about our current one, you don’t want to fail again right?” Sage asked with a smile. Jett nodded, her confidence rising back up. “No ma’am.” 

“Good. Just know that I will always be by your side.” Sage ruffled Jett’s hair affectionately before they landed in Bind. Jett felt more ready than before, and she knew that her team would catch her if she fell. And she’ll definitely catch Sage if she fell too.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Gonna try and burst my current bubble of just fantasizing these things but never actually writing them down T-T
> 
> As always, criticism is appreciated <3


End file.
